Pulley construction



Feb. 23, 1954 NELSON 2,669,878

PULLEJY CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 10, 1950 4 g 3 Ii 4 INVEN TOR. 779745 sou/Mo NA'LSON.

4 1-104 NEYS Patented Feb. 23, 1954 PU-LIJEY ooNs'rncorrow ThomasEdwardlNelson, Drayton Plains, Mich. Applicationflc'tober 10, 1950, Serial No. 189,459

3 Claims.

invention relates to a pulley construction together with the method of making the same,

and m'ore particularly to a novel pulley assembly and construction an improved method of manufacture.

Heretofore in pulley constructions whe'r'ethe sheaves are separatelyformecl and welded together and the bolt supporting bearing secured therein, there has been the diificulty and problem of completely and eliectively sealing the bearing lubricantwithin the interior of the pulley. In

- many cases the seal between the contacting portions of thecooperating sheaves is incomplete or inefficient with=the result that there is a c'ene trifugal outward throwing ofsaid lubricant from within the bearing housing of the pulley between the pulley sheaves.

It is theprimary object of the present-invention to provide a n'ovelpulley construction together with a novel process of manufacture" whereby there is a complete and fully effective seal created between the cooperating" pulley sheaves with the result that there is inches of lubricant from the interior ofthe pulleyl Itis'th' further-object oi this'invention to provide a' very simple low cost pulley construction which is easy to manufacture, which is fully effective for its intended purp'osefiand which will not throw lubricant.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of the partially assembled pulley with the bearing structure omitted.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the completely assembled pulley; and

Fig. 4 i a section on line 44 of Fig, 3.

It will be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set out.

Referring to the drawing the pulley includes a pair of stamped formed circular pulley sheaves H and i2 which after forming ar pressed together in alignment and are spot welded at the spaced points l3 as shown in Fig. 1 to provide a unitary pulley structure.

The sheave ll includes the annular flat por tion [4 which includes a plurality of punched openings l5, with the inner portion of the member l4 bent outwardly to form the sleeve I 6 to receive th bolt and bearing assembly hereafter described. The sheave II also includes an out wardly inclined annular flange whoseouter portion is turned outwardly as at IT to provide areinforccment for said flange which makes upone side of the V notch 22 to receive thepulley belt.

The sheave 52 includes a flat annular portion it adapted for cooperative surface registry with the corresponding fiat' annular portion M of sheave ii, and also includes the central circular hub 28 and the outturned annular circular portion 19 against which the bearing assembly seats when fully assembled as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The sheave l 2 similarly includes an outer angular flange which iorms'the opposite side of the V notch 22, with the outer end of said flange being outturned at 21! to provide a reinforcement :ior said annularflange.

Th pulley sheaves l1 and [2 after stamping and forming to the shape shown in Fig. 2 are brought together with their surfaces I 4 and 18 in close registry under pressure, and said sheaves are secured to each other by the aforementioned spot welds l 3. As a next step in the manufacturing process small preferably copper brazing slugs are loosely positioned within the openings I15 and the assembly shown in Pg. 2 is conveyed in a horizontal position with sheave I l facing upwardly, into abrazing oven which is maintained approximately 2000 degrees F. andthere is provided a hydrogen atmosphere within the oven. After brazing has been completed the assembly is conveyed out of the oven and cooled, and there has been formed an annular braze 23 between the pulley sheaves to effectively seal the annular space therebetween in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. The braze also provides a thin film of material between the mating registering surfaces I4 and l 8 so as to effectively seal the same together. The braze consists of a copper steel alloy and is fully effective for not only sealing said sheaves together but in further securing the same together.

The pulley assembly of Fig. 2 is now ready for the insertion therein of the bolt and hearing assembly. The bearing assembly includes a. stationary race i l, the balls 25 and the rotary race 26 which is snugly pressed within the sleeve I 6 to engag the inner surface of the annular portion [9 of sheave I2, after which the outer circular edge of said sleeve is turned over as at 32 to further retain the bearing assembly within the pulley housing. The bearing assembly, previously lubricated, includes an annular sealing ring 21 and the annular seal 28 secured thereto and which cooperatively engages the movable race 25 for effectively sealing the interior of said bearing assembly against the escape of its lubricant.

Before the bearing is positioned within the sleeve Hi there is pressed therethrough the bolt 29 having an annular shoulder 39 of increased diameter which engages the outer portion of the race 26. The outwardly projecting threaded shank 3| for said bolt provides the means of mounting said pulley upon a vehicle engine or upon any other desired support. By this construction is it apparent that the outer race 24 is tight with respect to the pulley assembly and therefore is free to rotate with respect to the inner race 26 which is tight upon the bolt 29. It will be noted that the hub 20 of sheave l2 provides an annular space 33 which receives the annular shoulder 30 of the bolt whereby thelatter is spaced from the aforesaid hub.

By the above construction and process it is apparent that the two sheaves H and I2 are assembled and spot welded at 13 and brazed at the various points 23 after which the bearing and bolt assembly is pressed into place within the sleeve of one of the pulley sheaves, the outer portion of which is bent or formed over the bearing for securing the same within the sleeve to thus complete the pulley assembly.

Having described my invention reference should now be had to the claims which follow for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. In a pulley construction, a formed disc having a flat annular portion and an outwardly inclined annular flange, a second formed disc having a central outwardly directed annular sleeve adapted to receive and support a hearing assembly, an intermediate flat annular portion, and an outwardly inclined annular flange cooperable with said first flange defining an annular V shaped groove therebetween, the flat portions of said discs being in surface registry with each other and welded together by continuous interior and outer concentric welds of circular shape for completely sealing off the space between said discs.

2. In a pulley construction, a formed disc having a fiat annular portion and an outwardly inclined annular flange, a second formed disc having a central outwardly directed annular sleeve,

an intermediate flat annular portion, and an outwardly inclined annular flange cooperable with said first flange defining an annular vshaped groove therebetween, the flat portions of said discs being in surface registry with each other and welded together, a bearing assembly ing a flat annular portion and an outwardly inclined annular flange, a second formed disc having a central outwardly directed annular sleeve, an intermediate flat annular portion, and an outwardly inclined annular flange cooperable with said first flange defining an annular V- shaped groove therebetween, the fiat portions of said discs being in surface registry with each other and welded together, a bearing assembly containing a lubricant secured within said sleeve, a mounting bolt journaled within and projecting outwardly from said assembly, and an annular copper alloy braze interposed between and bonded to said corresponding flat surfaces for sealing the space between said discs for preventing centrifugal discharge of lubricant from said bearing assembly, the outer edge of said sleeve being annularly turned inwardly for immovably retaining said bearing assembly.

THOMAS EDWARD NELSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 9 856,634 Hansen June 11, 1907 859,099 Nice, Jr July 2, 1907 904,540 Lachman Nov. 24, 1908 1,501,129 Meiselbach July 15, 1924 1,602,630 White Oct. 12, 1926 1,804,237 Steenstrup May 5, 1931 2,315,357 Smith Mar. 30, 1943 2,392,492 Morgan et al. Jan. 8, 1946 

